Lately my posts have been – well, depressing. I blog a lot about problems that may be nearly impossible to solve. So, when my 24-year-old son told me what he was doing to celebrate Christmas, I thought I’d share it.
For over 100 years, the US postal service has handled many thousands of letters addressed simply to “Santa Claus – North Pole.” The postal workers used to answer these letters themselves. That’s no longer feasible when there are tens of thousands of letters to Santa. That’s why the postal service began to allow individuals who have been screened to “adopt” a letter and, if they wish, become Santa for someone. If you drop your gift off at the post office, they will even deliver it. Some letters are funny and some are sad. Some are from Moms asking Santa to help their children. Many are not in English. (There are a lot of kids whose big wish is for an Iphone and truthfully, we need Apple to handle a LOT of these letters…) You can see some of the letters at the Operation Santa website.
If you are like me and recoil against the materialism of what’s supposed to be a spiritual holiday – reading scribbled lists of “I want” is not the cure for that. But, probably everyone remembers how it felt to be a kid and have your heart set on that one BIG thing. And if you were blessed enough to get it, you probably still remember how it felt. I confess that some days I’d like to return to that time of life when my problems could be solved with a new doll. When your kid needs an actual car, it’s a relief to find a kid who just wants a Hot Wheels. If solving ONE person’s biggest problem appeals to you this Christmas, this is a fun way to do it. There are, it seems, a few problems that we could actually solve.
Merry Christmas!
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
